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Giga Wing (Arcade)

GigaWing Arcade
Genre: Action
Perspective: Top-down
Gameplay: Shooter
Setting: Sci-Fi / Futuristic
Published by: Capcom Co.
Developed by: Takumi Corporation
Released: 1999
Platform: Arcade Machine

Game system

The reflect force

GigaWing is the manic shooter that introduces the principle of bulletproof barrier. By pressing the fire button, a protective sphere that sends back enemy bullets forms around the ship. When a ball, thus returned, touches an enemy on the screen, it creates a medal; if the player picks it up, it becomes a score multiplier. However, although it can be used indefinitely, the reflect force takes a long time to recharge, leaving the player's ship vulnerable.

Bombs

At the touch of a button, the player can trigger a bomb, which usually destroys all the enemies on the screen and removes all the balls. Each of the ships of the game has its own bomb.

Structure of the game

Gigawing is sprinkled with small screenplay, at the beginning and end of the level, or when a boss arrives. It shows a drawing of the manga style and a small text. In two player mode, you can see the two characters hold a discussion about the situation in which they are. It is a recurring element of the GigaWing series, quite rare in all shoot 'em up.

The choice of vessels

The player has the choice between four ships:
  • Red has a frontal shot. His bomb destroys everything on the screen but focuses on what is in front of the ship. The character is named Ruby.
  • The blue, led by Isha, has a frontal fire, accompanied by homing missiles.
  • Green has a very light frontal shot and throws 360-degree bombs around it. His associated character is Stuck.
  • The purple, finally, is equipped with a wide shot and is controlled by Sinnosuke.

End-level bosses

The game is split into five levels, plus an extra boss at the end. We can see a medallion included in every boss before it starts to attack you. It is this part of the boss that will have to be destroyed. Nevertheless, it is possible to destroy other parts, which earns points once the boss is finished (the player only has 60 seconds to do this), and a big bonus of points if this one is destroyed at 100 %. This is a principle that has been exploited before in Radiant Silvergun.

Score

The score in gigawing is often a very long number. For every damage done to an enemy yields points; that makes the base score. This is multiplied by the number of medals you have collected. Finally, we add to this one a bonus of end of level, destruction of bosses, percentage of destruction in the level, and a bonus if there are bombs to the player. It is not uncommon to see scores as high as 15 digits.